Hope and heartache
A young mum has revealed her heartache over the death of her newborn twin daughter.
Kirsty Black and Kevin Allan were relieved to finally be able to bring baby Ayla home from the neonatal unit at University Hospital Wishaw but also heartbroken that her sister Ava didn’t make it.
First- time mum Kirsty, 23, gave birth to the twins 15 weeks early, following an emergency C-section.
“I had really bad pains but I’d had the Covid booster jag a few days before and put it down to that,” said Kirsty.
“After a couple of days I had an instinct that something wasn’t right so I just went down [ to the hospital]. I’d expected to go down, have a scan, be told everything was fine and be back home that day.”
The scan revealed that the unborn babies were affected by the rare pregnancy condition twin- to- twin transfusion syndrome (TTFS).
It can occur in pregnancies where twins share the same placenta and blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients.
An imbalance in blood exchange can result in one twin giving more blood than it receives, which can result in organ failure, while the other receives too much blood which can result in heart complications.
Kirsty continued: “They scanned me and saw that one of the twins had more fluid than the other.
“Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome ( TTFS) was starting to happen but it was too late for treatment. They told me Ava’s heart rate had dropped dramatically.”
The babies were born on December 28 but both suffered bleeds to their brains. Tragically Ava suffered severe brain damage after her heart stopped for 12 minutes.
The tiny tot, who weighed 1lb 11oz – an ounce more than her sister, deteriorated and within a few days was suffering from catastrophic brain damage.
She survived less than a week before Kirsty and Kevin were faced with the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support.
“Ava was completely brain damaged – by the time they managed to get her out her heart had stopped. It stopped for 12 minutes,” Kirsty added. “She was all swollen. “They told us on New Year’s Day that she would have had no quality of life.
“We didn’t have too much time to think about it and decided we had to let her go.
“I held Ava in my arms while they turned her machines off.
“I didn’t want her anniversary being on New Year’s Day and she passed away just after midnight on January 2.
“The day after she was in a side room in a cold cot and I was able to bath her, take her hand and foot prints, and dress her.
“Kevin held up well through it all – I’m a nervous wreck but he’s been the strong one.”
Ava was buried three weeks later but the service arrangements had to be changed after Kevin unfortunately caught Covid.
“We had to do the full service at the graveyard so Kevin could be there, Kirsty said. “The cemetery is just up the road from us. She’s in with Kevin’s dad so he finds some comfort in that as well.”
Ayla, now aged 17 weeks and weighing over seven pounds, is settling in at home in Carluke with the couple.
“This is week three we’re home and life is so different,” said Kirsty. “It’s been completely life-changing.
“I don’t know what we’d have done if we didn’t still have Ayla, so I feel lucky that way.”
The couple have nothing but praise for the doctors and nurses working in Wishaw’s neonatal unit. “They reassured us from the start that Ayla would be coming home,” Kirsty revealed.
A race night is being held at Carluke Golf Club on Friday, June 3, as the couple’s way of saying thank you to the staff in the neonatal unit.
“It’s just to give something back, but no matter what we give it can never be enough,” Kirsty said.